Over the next five years, we'll be investing £3.5 billion into Yorkshire to support a huge capital programme, over 1,000 local businesses and many thousands of local jobs. For every £1 we spend we'll generate almost double this in terms of economic activity in Yorkshire. Read on to find out what this means for South Yorkshire...
Investing in South Yorkshire - a bit of history
We've recently completed some major work at our Ewden Water Treatment Works near Stocksbridge to improve our treatment processes. The raw water comes down from the moorlands in the Peaks and tends to collect a lot of peat on the way. We've now changed our processes in order to cope with the increasing amount of peat we were finding in the raw water.
We're also very proud of the work we have done at
Langsett Reservoir, near Penistone, to improve the leisure facitilies for local people and tourists alike. It's a beautiful spot and our aim was to make it as accessible as possible for everyone's enjoyment. When we asked a sample of visitors at Langsett what they thought,
95% said they were delighted with their experience.
But we haven't finished yet, there's more work to be done in South Yorkshire in the next five years.
Making a clear difference
Our customers tell us that a reliable and high quality supply of drinking water is very important to them and it is our job to ensure that they get nothing less. We're investing to maintain and improve our water treatment sites to ensure that they not only meet modern requirements, but also employ the most innovative and efficient processes.
£12 million to
improve drinking water quality at Rivelin Water Treatment Works in Sheffield
We'll continue the major upgrade work on water mains in the Sheffield area bringing even better quality water and water pressure to around 500,000 customers, marking the closing stages of an improvement programme which has seen over 1,200 miles of water main cleaned over the last four years across Yorkshire.
As well as improving water quality, the work should also reduce the risk of bursts or leaks occurring in the future. The quality of drinking water in the area is generally of a very high standard, however recently there have been a number of incidents where customers' water supplies have been discoloured.
This discolouration is usually as a result of deterioration in the quality of our underground pipes. While the Drinking Water Inspectorate acknowledges that discoloured water is not usually harmful to customers' health, we recognise that it looks and tastes unpleasant.
£13 million to upgrade the underground pipework in Sheffield to
reduce the risk of discoloured drinking water.
By upgrading the local water supply system, we aim to put an end to incidents of discolouration.
We're improving the condition of the mains in the following areas:
Ecclesall, Lodge Moor, Whirlow, Dore, Totley, Low Edges, Beauchief, Oaks Park, Meersbrook, Gleadless, Nethergreen, Crookesmoor, Rivelin, Walkley, Sharrow, Millhouses, Hillfoot, Bradway, Norton, Bolehill, Abbeydale, Lowedges, Hollins End & Commonside.
The work will be carried out in partnership with our service partner, Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, who're based in Darton, near Barnsley. We're also working very closely with Sheffield City Council's Highways Team to minimise disruption on the roads.
The project involves cleaning, relining (coating the pipes with a new polymeric lining) or replacing more than 80kms of large water mains. We'll be using various innovative techniques to refurbish the mains. These include scraping and relining, pressure jetting and lining, jet cleaning, swabbing and renewal.
The programme of work is scheduled to be completed in 2011.
Yorkshire's rivers are cleaner than they've ever been since the industrial revolution, but we're not going to stop there.
Richard Flint, Chief Executive
Improving the environment
We'll be spending £70 million at our big sewage works near Meadowhall which treats most of Sheffield's waste.
Our work is regulated by the Environment Agency, which sets very strict targets for the quality of our discharges into the rivers. Every day our treatment work at Blackburn Meadows discharges a lot of water into the River Don.
The plant is going to receive a massive £70 million overhaul, to ensure that the water we pump back into the Don can meet new, even tighter European standards. The refurbishment is designed to reduce levels of ammonia in the river for the benefit of fish and other wildlife. Ammonia is found in a range of cleaning products and detergents, as well as in human urine.
£70 million to upgrade Blackburn Meadows Sewage Works in Sheffield to meet the Freshwater Fish Directive and
create a better environment for fish in the River Don.
Over the past few years, the improvements we've made to our waste water treatment works has led to a significant improvement in the quality of the region's rivers, such as the Calder and the Aire.
Indeed our rivers are now cleaner than at any time since the Industrial Revolution. This has recently led to an increase in riverside developments in cities such as Leeds and Wakefield.
Got a question you'd like to ask us? Send a question to our Chief Executive Richard Flint and we'll add it, together with a reply, to our Ripple Effect message board.
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